Blue dawn Is Gavin Newsom the Democrat for the moment?

When Donald Trump landed in Los Angeles to tour the ruins left by January’s devastating wildfires, just days after being sworn in for a second term, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, was waiting on the tarmac to greet him.

- Lauren Gambino LOS ANGELES

The surprisingly warm exchange between two longtime political rivals seemed to reflect a new reality: with a vengeful Trump back in the White House, fire-ravaged California - and its Democratic governor - had a great deal at stake.

In the weeks that followed, Newsom met with Trump at the White House to lobby for federal disaster relief. He invited Maga-world fixtures on to his podcast, including Steve Bannon.

All the while, his state was suing the Trump administration - over executive actions on immigration, federal funding and tariffs.

Their fragile detente, already showing cracks, shattered spectacularly last week, when the president mobilised thousands of national guard troops and 700 marines - over the governor’s objections - to quell protests in Los Angeles sparked by immigration raids.

Newsom accused Trump of deliberately injecting chaos into a situation that local authorities had under control. Trump, in turn, called “Newscum” incompetent and suggested the governor should be arrested, though he later played down the threat.